Something rather unexpected
by Herecusilovereading
Summary: Something is wrong with Echizen Ryoma and her team mates are concerned. What happens when the Rikkaidai captain recognizes the symptoms? Set after the nationals. Fem!RyomaXYukimuraSeiichi. OOC sick but strong Ryoma. Going to try to make this float , fingers crossed.
1. Chapter 1

"Whoa!" splat The girl in her tennis uniform landed unceremoniously face-first in to muddy ground of the tennis' team running track.

She sat up groggily, her limbs lacking their usual strength. It seems that the culprit was a stray cross bar the height of her knee. Some how it had managed to aligned itself with her running path without her knowing or seeing it. Damn the stupid piece of metal. It's not going to keep me from practicing, she thought.

She grunted as she brought herself up in to a sitting position. Examining herself she found that her white and blue top was now smeared brown, looking like a five year old's paint job with chocolate mix and a hammer.

A giggled sounded behind her and she turned around to see her best friend and sempai jogging up to her. Her best friend, Momo-senpai, giggling like a school girl with chocolate for his valentine. The other person, strangely enough, was her team captain, had the decency not to laugh in her face. Though she wasn't surprised because none of the regulars ever seen him laugh, much less smile. She fear if his stoicism were to break, a satellite might come crashing down on all of us and start an outer space arson on earth.

She struggle to get herself up again and was reminded of the face that she seemed to be out of it lately. Her headache was still present and annoying as ever. How long these invisible pulsing has been happening, she doesn't remember, but the occurrence has been increasing and so does it's intensity. Maybe she was getting sick after all.

"Zen... Echizen" Came the loud sound of her best friend over her thoughts. He was waving his hands over her face looking half way between amused, confused and worried. Finally it settled at amused and he reach out a hand to help her get up. She was glad because she was starting think that her best friend sprouted two other heads, each containing a different emotion.

"Hey a you all right? You've been looking weird lately. I hope you're not sick because I thought that idiots can't catch a cold." He said grinning. She gave him a glare and stood up, ignoring his hand and grunted in her mind. Her joints were making her feel like an old lady! Could practice have been that harsh that she keeps getting muscle ache and joint pains? But the training program didn't differ much from what they usually had normally. Was she herself been lagging behind the other regulars? No way, she should step up her training then. Can't possibly loose to the half-brain boys in the regular tennis team.

Tezuka, the team captain, was looking at his first year regular, contemplating why his charge was performing poorly the past week. He can't bring himself to give punishment to her more than he already did since now she looks like she can't even stand by herself. (ahem, somethings need to be mention for the readers. Tezuka sighed inwardly, could the girl not introduce herself properly? What it is, is that they were keeping her gender as a girl a secret since girls can't normally join boy's tennis team for tournaments. But Echizen has gotten an exception since her dad is quite influential in the tennis world.)

"Echizen, go home today and rest. You are not up to standards lately. Get better and then come back later. For now, you are suspended from practice." Tezuka said stoically. As always, his expression reveals almost nothing. His close friends might be able to see the hint of worry in his eyes, but for the young first year girl, she missed the signs of worry from her captain.


	2. Chapter 2

She was hurt that the captain suspended her from practice. Had he thought that she needed to rest while the other 'boys' didn't need to because she was a weak girl? How sexist is that? The 'girl' with short black hair with emerald tinted hair wig huffed indignantly and ignored her captain's order to rest and started running again. Not before saying that she would practice harder to live up to the team's standards and turn herself stubbornly away.

Momoshiro Takeshi, aka Momo-chan senpai to his kouhais, look worryingly at the receding figure of the 'boy'. He had seen his best friend's condition in the past week or so too, even he would admit that the girl look disheveled and bone tired coming to practice each day. He ask his captain, "Buchou, should we do something? That fall wasn't normal I tell you. The thing was big and obvious and right in front of her and she still managed to trip over it. This is the seventh time the week she did that. She looks sick, if we don't do something soon Oishi-senpai might faint from all the worrying he does each time he sees her."

Everyone in the tennis team could see the evident change in their rookie star player. First was the bags under his eyes and his sickly pale appearance, then the increasing amount of time he slept in the classroom. Not that it was surprising, Echizen Ryoma was a known figure in this school to sleep through almost every class and manage to keep his top scores.

But now it was different because he's begun to sleep through bells and break times hours on hours until the tennis team found him after school and tried effortlessly for almost half an hour to wake the girl up. Might as well be talking to a rock in that situation because the girl did not budge an inch through the commotion. She seemed to be tired all the time and her mood swings like a mad woman having PMS. People have been keeping well away from the girl, knowing that they would receive a death glare if they interfere. It was also a known fact that Echizen Ryoma is a very stubborn person.

Tezuka Kunimitsu sighed and rub his fingers on the bridge of his nose. The girl was stubborn and everyone knows that fact. It would be hard to convince her to stop practice, even for a day. The team love tennis, they all played with their heart. But Echizen lives for tennis. She could never abandon it, forced or not. He decided that if this kind of situation happens again, the girl would be staying home in her bed and take a rest and he'll make sure of it himself or they would all go mad with the increasing amount of time Oishi and Kikumaru worrying about their kouhai very loudly to their ears.

Not too long after her unfortunate fall, she was subjected to Oishi-sempai's fussing over her appearance in the locker room. Normally the team would change first then let their only girl team member change behind them to hide (Just incase if someone comes in to the locker room. but not very likely since the regulars always keep on practicing after hours. You can never be too careful) from the other non-regular teammate (if it were to happen) sans for Inui Sadaharu who was their data collector/training menu creator/ regular/substitute player who knows about Echizen Ryoma being a girl.

Oishi had insist that she change first since she was covered in mud. He offered to get her regular jacket soak in warm water first to rid it off the drying mud. The weather had been dry and cold enough for them to wear long trousers and jackets, they were entering winter soon. Ryoma grudgingly oblique to her sempai's mother hen mode since it would shut him up for a while. Her head was ringing and the noise didn't help her head ache at all. She felt clammy and hot but it must have been her sweat and heat from after practice. She heed it no thought as she slid off her jacket and hand it over to the tennis team's mother hen.

Fuji Syuusuke was the first to notice that something was terribly wrong with Ryoma-chan. Not the fact that she looks half dead but when his cerulean blue eyes caught the first sight of bruising on the girl's arm, his eyes opened widely. After him was Oishi who screamed and was starting to hyperventilate at the sight of bruises lining the girl's arms and legs once she slip her trousers off to reveal her shorts.

By then, the whole top players of the Seigaku tennis team was staring wide eyed at the first year who was now looking confused and extremely self conscious at the eyes of her male teammates. Ever so blunt, she asked them "What are you staring at me for? Did my head split in half or something? Because I certainly do feel like it right now. Urrgh, my head is killing me." She said and started to sway dangerously.

Kikumaru, the fastest on the team, jumped to catch her before she falls and hits her head. He was tearing up at the sight of his Ochibi-chan looking so vulnerable. Now, all her teammates for flocking over her asking questions ranging from 'Are you feeling alright?', 'Who did this to you?', 'Where did all the bruises come from?', to 'We need an ambulance!' From Oishi, 'I'm going to kill who ever did this' from Momoshiro and a long aggressive hiss from the team's viper Kaido Kaoru.

Ryoma's head was spinning. At one point she was standing now somehow she ended up lying on Kikumaru-senpai's lap with very very loud noise everywhere. She tried sitting up but her joints were disagreeing with her, insisting that she stay motionless for a while. Finally the noise receded and she notice in more clarity that everyone was looking at her and it was creepy. Silence followed the captain's order to shut it. Now everyone was waiting for answers.

"What are you staring at?" She asked, annoyance weaved in to her tired voice. Momo was the first to speak, if you could say that spluttering was an intelligible way conversing. "Wha?... Echizen! The bru...bruises!.. How?...Who! Whatthewhydidntyoutellus. Arrfgsfjgh!" See? Totally unintelligible. Wait. Bruises?!

She lifted her head to look down at their bare arms and legs to see in horror that it was actually covered with bruises. Bruises that she never remembered getting. The blue and purple one the size of a tomato on her leg looked like it must have hurt lot but she never remembered getting such a hit on her leg, neither on her arms. Now it was her time to splutter "What the hell?! Since when?...How did... Huh?" She now sat up on the bench and took another look at her skin on her upper legs and stomach to reveal even more discoloring on her skin. "Shit." She said aloud and that summed up her situation perfectly. Oh shit alright.


	3. Chapter 3

I'm sorry that it's rather short. I'm in my examination month right now. Just finished my Biology final exam today! Five more to go... But enjoy this chapter :)

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That evening, some of the regulars walk together to the Echizen household with their kouhai sleeping on Momo's back after falling into an exhausted sleep right there on the bench on the locker room.

Everyone was worried, even Taka-San who normally flips once he holds a tennis racket merely said "burning... I hope Echizen gets better soon" in his normal voice before separating to his house.

Momo didn't missed the fact that Echizen was ridiculously light, even lighter than she usually is and he can't help to notice the thinner legs and arms and the small petite body of his best friend on his back.

Kaidou, Inui, Fuji, Oishi Kikumaru left soon after, placing their precious kouhai in the hands on her best friend and captain as they made their way back home. Tezuka and Momoshiro made their way to the Echizen's house in silence. Tezuka carrying Echizen's bags.

She was still in her practice clothing since non of them were going to intrude in the girl's privacy even if the wet clothes might make her sick. They simply put her long trousers back on and wrap her up in about three jackets lent by the worrying Oishi and the crying Kikumaru.

Tezuka rang the bell of the big traditional Japanese house on top of the hill. It was strange enough the first time he came here to see that the Echizen house hold is set in a shrine and the stone stairway in front of the house didn't help change his opinion of Echizen Nanjiro's weirdness on why a person would ever decide to build his house in a shrine.

Nanako came though the door and ushered them in when she saw the state of her little cousin. She fussed at Ryoma and ask the boys to put her in her bed room and wait. Rinko, Ryoma's mother came in a minute later and was explained about the conditions of her daughter.

She was horrified, if that was even enough to say, about Ryoma's condition once she knew about the bruises and that her daughter never mentioned anything at home.

"Echizen-San, I want to mention that she said that she didn't noticed it herself how she recieved those bruises. And I believe it was the truth since normally if she was bullied she wouldn't have given the reaction we saw.

I insist you take her to the hospital sometime to get a better look even though she would definitely going to argue. She looks so tired as it is and we all suspect that she was unwell for a while now. She was so stubborn about it. However, we are all worried so please refrain her from coming to school tennis practice until she gets better." Tezuka said quietly, not wanting to disturb Echizen from her sleep.

Momo was amazed at the long speech his captain gave. It was so rare that he would speak a sentence, a paragraph was even more rare. He must be really worried about Echizen who wouldn't? Their kouhai was looking like she would drop dead any minute, she was so pale.

Nanako came in with a bucket and towels and a change of more comfortable clothes for Ryoma and the boys took it as a sign that they should leave. Rinks thanked the boys and saw them off as Nanako clean her cousin off of the grime and winced at the amount of ugly looking bruises on the skin.

She really hope that Ryoma-San wasn't being bullied at school or some place else. Little did she know that this was just the start of something big and unexpected that would flip their world upside down.


	4. Chapter 4

I'm still in my exam month...I'm afraid its another short one. Lets work hard everyone! (But not too much that you jeoperdise your sleep or you have no life outside studying ofcourse)

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A few days later, after being fussed about by her mom, cousin, Oyaji and even her Himalayan cat Karupin, she was lot better sans for the occasional headache but she brushed it off. Now she was on her way to a local tennis courts. It was still during school hours and she can't stay swooped up in her bed all day long, it was driving her crazy. Better to knock some tennis balls and get some exercise done. It was nearly lunch time.

Ryoma didn't get much exercise as she would have liked. The stupid headache was back and she couldn't see straight, much less hit the ball correctly. She felt the world spinning and her eye sight was specked with blues, reds, greens and turning black rapidly. She recognize the feeling as fainting. As she was about to fall hazardously on to the floor, a pair of strong arms caught her. She saw flashes of navy blue of the one and only Yukimura Seiichi's hair before blacking out.

Yukimura Seiichi was on his way to his usual checkup at the hospital near his house in Tokyo when he came across an unexpected sight. A girl in tennis uniform, shorts and t shirt with a recognizable Seigaku emblem jacket on the bench next to the tennis court caught his eyes and made his heart skipped a beat. The figure was clearly a girl, because of her long dark lustrous hair cascading down her back. But what made him stare was the fact that the 'girl' look seriously like the Seigaku rookie Echizen Ryoma whom he played against in the nationals that year was breathtakingly beautiful.

He walked closer and observe the interesting sight when his eyes and ears caught something that made him almost gasp. The girl, who he was now sure is Echizen Ryoma because of the hair, face, height, tennis posture and uniform, was making him alarmed from her actions. Anyone would be able to recognize those bruises a mile away, but what shocked him was what he learned after 'observing' her for a couple of minutes.

Echizen was mumbling about the pain in her joints, 'stupid' headaches, and the fact that she doesn't know how herself got those ugly bruises made him panicked despite himself. He knew these symptoms from anywhere, being in a hospital over a year because of a chronic disease, one tends to pick up some things about it.

Before Yukimura could panic further, a loud sound of a racket hitting the ground snapped him off his thoughts. He saw Echizen-chan swaying and clutching her head, looking about to faint. Another sign he thought, and ran at the speed unimaginable to the normal population and caught the girl in his arms before her body went slack on him.

Yukimura didn't hesitate to pick the girl up in his arms, not missing the other sign that her body was too light to be true, he barely felt her weight at all, before wrapping the girl up in the jacket and bagged her tennis stuffs before taking off running to the hospital.

In his mind he was praying that it wasn't true, that the girl simply caught a flu or something and would so get better and play tennis with him again. But another sane and logical part of his brain countered that with the facts that he witnessed only a few minutes earlier. But if it was really what he thought it was then he pray to the gods that she will be cured and return to the tennis world with strength, determination to win and the same cockiness he came to like. She was too young, the fates couldn't be so mean to the prince(ess) of tennis could they? But then again, the other part of his brain reminded him that the fates weren't kind to him either.


	5. Chapter 5

My exams are over~~~ I'll write more often now. I'll do my best with my updates but i think my chapters wIll be harder to work on. although enjoy this update :)

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Yukimura's private doctor was more or less, startled at the running figure of his charge with a small girl in his arms coming towards the hospital entrance with the speed no one would imagine a patient with Guillain-Barré would have. As a doctor, he immediately knew that something was wrong and called for a stretcher trolley right away. Seconds later Yukimura Seiichi arrived and place the girl gently but swiftly on the stretcher and told his doctor his suspicions. They both looked grim and quickly headed in to the hospital to help the girl.

Hours later, after the hospital did a full examination on the girl called Echizen Ryoma, her guardian was contacted and they came as fast as they could. Nanjiro and Nanako were very worried, knowing that Ryoma was admitted to the hospital after only just recovering from the fever she had. They came to the room to face with a cyan blue haired boy with blue eyes, pale skinned and feminine figure sitting next to Ryoma's bed looking fondly at the sleeping girl hooked up to an IV and other instruments while his large hands holding hers unconsciously.

The doctor came in right them, looking very sad and broke the news gently to Echizen-san's father that his daughter appeared to have an acute lymphoblastic leukemia or ALL, common in children. Even assuring them that ALL has a good rate of being cured in children, it didn't stop Nanako from bursting in to tears and running to Ryoma's bedside and Nanjiro to freeze up and look at the doctor as if he as grown a second head.

Finally, the one-sided conversation sunk in and Nanjiro look at his only daughter before heading out the door with the doctor in tow. Inside the room, Nanako was sniffling before excusing herself to make a call to inform her aunt about her cousin and left the room, leaving Yukimura in the room with the sleeping Ryoma.

A major conflict was going on in Yukimura's head whist sitting on the chair in the hospital room smelling of disinfectant. He knew his own feelings towards Echizen Ryoma for a long time, he wasn't stupid not to recognize it himself. Seeing the 'girl' version of the cocky freshmen took his breath away at first sight, the second thought that came to mind was that he wasn't bisexual or gay after all. Seeing his crush's current condition only strengthened his feelings towards her, to the annoyance of himself. He knew that he shouldn't be feeling this way, she was only 12 and he 14, but every time he look at the long emerald black hair and red full lips, he couldn't help his heart beating a hundred miles an hour just at the sight to it.

A sad feeling slammed in to him once more at the knowledge of the severity of her case. It would hurt her so badly once she knew that she would have to quit tennis until the disease is taken care of. He couldn't help but feel depressed at the thought of not being able to play an amazing player like her again. The fates sure are are cruel with her. He only wish that at least they would be kind enough to spare her the pain and knowledge that the disease might last forever and gave her back her livelihood like his when his surgery was a success and he was cured of his Guillain-Barré syndrome months back.

Nanjiro came back in and said to the air (but was probably speaking to Yukimura whom greeted him earlier) that Nanako headed home to pack stuffs for Ryoma since she would be staying here for a while. He didn't question the presence of a 'boy' with his precious daughter because the doctor had explained to him that Yukimura was the person who founded Ryoma, carried her to the hospital and was the first to suspect her having this disease since he too, went through a similar experience.

Nanjiro was relief and was thankful to the boy Yukimura that he help his daughter. He also knew from the look that Yukimura was giving his daughter that he would be playing a large part in helping his daughter get through this obstacle. He was glad, for the first time, for another caring male figure in his daughter's life (apart from Ryoga who had left the house along time ago to find his own path in life*). From his previous good deeds and caring attitude towards Ryoma, Nanjiro restrained himself from prying the boy's hand off his Ryoma's, as this is his silent gesture in thanking the boy for what he did.

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* note: okay I need to mention this before forget. In this story Ryoga did not runaway from home at a young age. Rather, he was loved by his family and was a loving (albeit annoying) brother figure to his sister. He was very good at tennis but decided that titles did not matter to him and retired from the tennis world like his father. After that he claimed that he would find another path in his life other than tennis (not that he would quit or anything) and went off to search for another dream.


End file.
